Goodnight, Ritsuka
by Jayne-Aural
Summary: Ritsuka has several violent nightmares. What will Soubi do? Does he know how to properly comfort Ritsuka? Ritsuka/Soubi
1. Initial Goodnight

**A/N:** 'Stockholm Syndrome' is a situation where hostages develop an unnatural loyalty to their captors, despite the pain and torture they endure. You can look up more online. Sorry I seem to have abandoned Tinged With Pink. I'll add to it when I'm properly inspired, I promise. For now, enjoy this first chapter~~

"Goodnight, Ritsuka."

"'Night, Soubi."

Soubi turned out the last light near his nightstand and stood there for a few moments while his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Ritsuka had run away from home, once again. He seemed determined to stay away, to make a new life for himself away from all the abuse, from the daily Stockholm Syndrome. However, each and every time, the cat-eared boy would only stay with his fighter for one night before feeling repentant and returning to his mother.

Tired blue eyes watched the small form on the mattress, curled up and helpless under several blankets. Originally, Soubi had offered to share his bed with Ritsuka. The younger furiously blushed and insisted on sleeping on the floor. Soubi yanked out an extra mattress, and fetched as many blankets as Ritsuka wanted – all but two of the blankets Soubi owned. The catboy soon stopped complaining of the cold and fell asleep. Moonlight diffused softly through the apartment window. Soubi reluctantly climbed into his own bed, placing his glasses on the nearby nightstand. The fighter must not have realized his tired state, and all quickly went black.

Purple fields spread out before Soubi's unconscious eyes, and he wandered them aimlessly. He searched and searched. Each night it was the same – Soubi's mind placed him in a different dreamland, and he had to find a small, black kitten in order to wake up. It was an easy task most nights, once he could detect the tiny creature's mewling. Soubi walked around a bit more. Suddenly, he heard the sound of what seemed like hundreds of kittens, all yowling in pain. Soubi whirled around and woke up in shock.

There was Ritsuka on the floor mattress, screaming and crying and trying to kick off the bedsheets and fending off an imaginary attacker, all at once. Soubi pulled the bedsheets clear and pinned Ritsuka to avoid injury.

"Ritsuka. Ritsuka!"

"S-Soubi?" The cat-eared boy blinked hard. His eyes opened wide, then filled with tears. "Soubi, let me go!" Immediately, the fighter obeyed. Concern was carefully etched across Soubi's face as he watched Ritsuka sit up and frantically rub away his tears.

"I must have had a nightmare," Ritsuka breathed in a hollow voice.

"Too many blankets?" Soubi inquired, smiling. The catboy flushed and scowled.

"N-No!" A pause. "Well, I am a little warm." Ritsuka was startled to feel Soubi's cool hand against his cheek.

"Yes, you do feel warm." Ritsuka had no sooner peeled his fighter's hand off his face than the question was asked again.

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep up here with me? There are less blankets." The catboy's ears lowered as he reconsidered. He could just as easily stay on the floor mattress and leave most of the blankets off, or so he thought. Scanning the floor, Ritsuka spied his blankets in a twisted mess piled in a corner.

"Why'd you have to throw mine all the way over there?!" The catboy scowled again. Soubi's expression was rather blank, except for the warm twinkle in his eyes which boasted of victory. Ritsuka quickly dismissed the thought of sleeping with no blankets as he crawled into the elder's bed.

"Fine. Just this once. And you better not try anything!" Ritsuka glared at Soubi then turned over so as not to catch view of that maddening smile.

**A/N:** I seem to keep returning to 'things falling off beds'. Reviews would be appreciated from you Loveless fans (and casual readers alike).


	2. Heated Pillow

The cat-eared boy fell into a fitful sleep once again. He rolled over on his side, then back, rocking the bed gently. Soubi's eyelids fluttered, but he did not wake up. Ritsuka began to make soft cries of distress, his eyes shut tight and his small hands balling up into fists. Ritsuka turned over on his side once more, this time facing Soubi, who had been sleeping on his side the whole time, facing inward toward the center of the bed. The fighter's warm, calm breaths ruffled the fluffy fringe on his sacrifice.

Still, the nightmares tortured the boy, nearly bringing him to silent tears. Ritsuka's fingers unclenched and began to entangle themselves in Soubi's sleep shirt. Slowly, the boy would take handful after handful of material, pulling it closer to himself. Tears rolled down his cheeks and his cries became audible once again. Without warning, Ritsuka began kicking as his cries became increasingly distressed. Soubi stirred, then opened his eyes wide as he realized what was happening. Taking firm hold of his sacrifice's shoulder, Soubi gently shook Ritsuka in an attempt to wake him.

"Ritsuka!"

"No! No…Stop…"

"Ritsuka, it's just Soubi. Wake up, I'm here."

Fists still firmly clutching the older man's shirt, the cat-eared boy's eyes opened wide. For a moment, there was no recognition. Ritsuka was still recovering from his horrifying unconscious experience.

"Are you -? Is it…you?"

"Yes, Ritsuka. It's Soubi. I'm right here."

Ritsuka blinked away fresh tears which hadn't yet fallen. He noticed the placement of his hands. Instantly blushing, the catboy released his two-fisted grip on Soubi's sleep shirt. The older man's lips curved upward, and even his eyes seemed to take on a pleasant glow.

"H-How long was I doing that?"

Soubi couldn't quite tell in the darkness of the room, but he imagined Ritsuka's cheeks to be a deep shade of pink.

"Doing what?" The fighter responded, flirtatiously oblivious as usual. He never broke eye contact with Ritsuka, constantly searching for the younger one's eyes even as they tried to evade him.

"Y-you know what!" Ritsuka frowned. "Me grabbing your shirt like that," he added, deciding Soubi might want an answer anyway.

"Oh, that. I felt it for a while. Easily twenty minutes," the fighter commented, casually gesturing toward his digital alarm clock.

"T-twenty minutes?! You mean you were keeping track? You mean… you…you were awake the whole time?!" The cat-eared boy folded his arms in a show of disgust.

"I only woke up when you started pulling me closer to you." That accursed blank facial expression of mild, innocent surprise. Again. Ritsuka let out a long, labored sigh of aggravation.

"Well, that would have been the time to wake me up, stupid! Not _twenty minutes later_ when I'm clearly having a fit of nightmares!" Ritsuka scowled. Soubi grinned, his eyes glittering.

"I obeyed you. I didn't 'try anything'."

"_Very _funny. You only let me pull at your shirt while I was dreaming – and apparently liked it too much to wake me up! Maybe Kio's right. Maybe you really _are _a pervert." Now it was Soubi's turn to frown.

"Ritsuka… I am _not _a pervert."

"All right, all right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." A pause. "I'm cold."

The fighter sat up wordlessly, taking the blankets from around his knees and spreading them evenly over both parties. The sacrifice immediately wrapped his blanket tightly around himself so only his eyes and ears were showing. Soubi smiled and lay back on the bed.

"Soubi…?"

"Yes?"

"…"

"What is it, Ritsuka?"

"…Do you have an extra pillow? Like, a small one? I usually have a pillow to hug when I sleep."

"Let me see." The older man sat up once again and skillfully stepped over Ritsuka to get out of bed and search. After a few minutes of feet shuffling and items rustling, Soubi returned with the desired pillow. He gently handed it to the cat-eared boy as he hopped back into bed. Ritsuka clutched the pillow and re-tucked himself under his blanket, setting in to sleep.

"If you like… I also have a heated pillow."

"Really? Well, why didn't you bring that one, too?" The cat ears twitched back and forth a few times.

"I did bring it. It's between my arms and across my heart."

"What does that m--- ?" The cat-eared boy's words were silenced as Soubi embraced him tightly.

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading. It means a lot to me. ^_^ Please review~**


End file.
